The prior art has conventionally carried out mooring operations of vessel-to-vessel, or vessel-to-quay using the following procedures;
(1) two or three people position themselves at the stem and stern of a vessel respectively, and a chief manager positions himself at a steering house of the vessel, PA1 (2) when a vessel A to be moored comes near to another vessel B (or the quay) as seen in FIG. 2, a rope is thrown to an opposite side from the stern, and the opposite party hauls it (the rope is combined at its end with a mooring bridle 100), PA1 (3) when the bridle 100 reaches the opposite side B following the rope, it is combined (such as by a knot) with a bitt 101 (or a bollard), PA1 (4) the bridle 100 is combined with the bitt 101 (or bollard) at its one end and mounted on a winch 102 of the vessel A at its other end, and it is coiled by a required amount, and the work at the stem is finished, PA1 (5) the same work is also done and finished at the stern part (in the case of a big vessel, the bridle 100 is also provided at its center besides the stem and stern).
As is seen, the mooring work requires much labor and time. The wire rope is, in general, used for the bridle. The wire rope is easily handled, but it is often broken several times in a year per vessel. The mooring work is very dangerous. Therefore, automation of the mooring operation has been desirous from the view of improving the work and safety of the workmen.
The present invention is to provide a mooring apparatus which automates the above mentioned mooring work by means of mechanical operation.